Sepia - Private Reserve

[visvamitra]

Private Reserve Ink was founded by Terry W. Johnson and Susan Schube in the workroom of Avalon Jewelers/Gallery in Zionsville, IN, as an addition to the fountain pen department. Terry's vision was simple... "Why not have fountain pen ink in a rainbow of colors to expand the bounds of writing beyond standard black, blue, red and green."

That's what's written on their internet site. My experience with their inks is ambigous: I like most colors, but the inks I've tried weren't best behaved (Orange Crush, Shoreline Gold caused nib crud; Hor Bubble Gum is PINK and it stains everything).

Sepia has great, complex color, however the sample I've bought some time ago proved the solution isn't stable. After one month of waiting in the drawer the liquid turned into some kind of sticky ink-mud. The flow was awful, it wasn't easy to clean. All in all I enjoy the color but I find it one of the worst behaved inks I've ever tried. I would be interested in your experience with this particular ink? Is it possible my sample was contaminated or something?

Ink Splash

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Drops of ink on kitchen towel

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Oxford Recycled 90 g, Kaweco Sport Classic, B

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/763/Eo9jVU.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1367/Miz4Xi.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1367/Miz4Xi.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/338/vj9r3N.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1367/Miz4Xi.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/8922/ECg4bC.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9895/VDGYah.jpg

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review. I've tried some PR inks, but not this one. Love the shading, but my experience with the brand as a whole has been mixed.

For instance, I absolutely *love* Ebony Purple. The color and sheen of DC Supershow Blue is just amazing -- but the ink takes forever to dry. Rose Rage I found to be a much cheaper alternative to Iroshihzuku Kosumosu -- the color is almost identical. American Blue is pretty well behaved, from what I remember -- but for some reason I never use it. Ditto for Purple Mojo, which is about the same color as Noodler's North African Violet; it's a bit softer and less vibrant than NAV, but dries faster. Invincible Black stained the inside of a Preppy eyedropper fairly badly; Invincible Blue was a weird sort of chalky color. Cosmic Cobalt was alright (very similar to Herbin Eclat de Saphir, but a bit more saturated). Grey Flannel was too, but I have grey inks I like better. Avocado was a bit too dark for me (although I've considered mixing it with some really too light Diamine inks that also lean yellow. And I just didn't care for the colors on Spearmint, Midnight Blues, Black Magic Blue and Burgundy Mist.

I have a few other samples that I haven't tried yet (at some point I want to compare Tanzanite and Fast Dry Tanzanite to see if there is any difference in the color or just in the dry times).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Edited April 22, 2015 by inkstainedruth

[jasonchickerson]

Thanks for reviewing these inks, even when they are disasters. My only experience with PR is Tanzanite, which is my wife's favorite.